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Merlin the Magic Mouse is an animated cartoon mouse, who starred in five Warner Bros. Looney Tunes shorts late in the series, from 1967 to 1969.[1] The first cartoon was Merlin the Magic Mouse, directed by Alex Lovy.

In 1967, Jack L. Warner reorganized the Warner Bros. animation department, and hired Lovy away from Hanna-Barbera Productions to create new characters for Warners. The two that Lovy came up with were Merlin the Magic Mouse and Cool Cat.[2]

History

Merlin was a nightclub magician (he usually preferred to be called a prestidigitator, though he could never pronounce this correctly) who traveled around for work.[3] Much of the humour of the character derived from the fact that, while he was often regarded as a cheap stage magician, he knew some very real and powerful magic tricks. His magic words were typically "Atascadero Escondido!" Merlin also has a sidekick, appropriately named Second Banana, which is a slang term for a magician's assistant.

Daws Butler provided the voice of Merlin and Second Banana in the first short, Merlin the Magic Mouse; Larry Storch performed the voices for the other four films.[4] Merlin's vocal mannerisms are based on that of W.C. Fields.[4]

He would later be featured in Tiny Toons Looniversity, voiced by JP Karliak.[5]

Titles

  • Merlin the Magic Mouse (1967)
  • Hocus Pocus Powwow (1968)
  • Feud with a Dude (1968)
  • Fistic Mystic (1969)
  • Shamrock and Roll (1969)

References

  1. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 104. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. ^ Maltin, Leonard (1987). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons (Revised ed.). Plume. p. 276. ISBN 0-452-25993-2.
  3. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. p. 166. ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  4. ^ a b Merlin the Magic Mouse at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 17, 2016.
  5. ^ "Extra, So Extra". IMDb.

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin_the_Magic_Mouse